Jack Tramiel

Overview

Jack Tramiel survived Auschwitz, emigrated to America, repaired typewriters, and built one of the most important computer companies in history. His philosophy—“computers for the masses, not the classes”—drove Commodore to make affordable machines that put computing power in millions of homes. His management style was brutal, his vision was clear, and his impact on the industry was immense.

Fast facts

Born: 1928 in Łódź, Poland, as Idek Tramielski.
Holocaust survivor: interned in Auschwitz; family members perished. Emigrated to the US in 1947.
Commodore founded: started as a typewriter repair shop in Toronto (1954), pivoted to calculators, then computers.
MOS acquisition (1976): bought the chip manufacturer to secure supply and gain engineering talent.
The big hits: PET (1977), VIC-20 (1980), Commodore 64 (1982).
Departure (1984): resigned from Commodore after boardroom conflicts; immediately took over Atari’s consumer division.
Passed away: April 2012, at age 83.

The calculator wars

In the early 1970s, Texas Instruments threatened to destroy Commodore:

TI made both calculators and calculator chips
When TI entered the retail market, they could undercut anyone
Tramiel’s response: buy MOS Technology, become vertically integrated

This move—controlling chip fabrication—became Commodore’s defining competitive advantage.

Building the empire

Tramiel’s Commodore operated on a simple principle: undercut everyone.

PET (1977): the first all-in-one personal computer, targeting business and education.
VIC-20 (1980): the first computer to sell a million units, priced under $300.
Commodore 64 (1982): launched at $595, soon dropped to $200. Competitors couldn’t touch it.

Tramiel’s willingness to slash prices—even cannibalising his own products—terrified rivals. Texas Instruments exited the home computer market. Atari bled money. Only Apple, protected by different market positioning, survived intact.

Management style

Tramiel was infamous for:

“Business is war”: his stated philosophy toward competition.
Demanding intensity: long hours, aggressive targets, high turnover.
Cost obsession: every penny mattered; engineers learned to design cheap.
Loyalty and betrayal: promoted fiercely, fired faster.

The engineers who thrived under Tramiel created remarkable machines. Many burned out. The culture produced results but left casualties.

The Atari years

When Tramiel left Commodore in 1984:

Bought Atari’s consumer division from Warner for a bargain price
Launched the Atari ST (1985), a 16-bit computer competing with the Amiga
Ironically, Commodore had just acquired Amiga Corporation—partly to spite Tramiel

The ST found success in Europe, particularly for MIDI music production, but never achieved Commodore 64-level dominance.

Legacy

Tramiel proved that computers didn’t have to be expensive. His price wars made computing accessible to ordinary families, launching careers and creating communities. The methods were harsh, the results were transformative. Without Tramiel’s Commodore, the 8-bit era would have looked very different.

Computers for the masses, not the classes